Pablo Larrazabal attacked by swarm of hornets at the Maybank Malaysian Open

Spanish golfer jumps into water hazard after being attacked and stung by 30 to
40 hornets at the Malaysian Open

The sight of a professional golfer sprinting across the fairway, swatting furiously before tearing off his clothes and jumping into a lake to escape a swarm of hornets is one of the more bizarre in the history of the European Tour and promises to become a YouTube hit.

But as much as it will make viewers giggle this was no laughing matter. Golfers have been killed by these mass insect attacks, with two men dying in China last year in a spate of outbreaks. And Pablo Larrazabal understandably feared for his safety when being stung at least 20 times during the second round of the Malaysian Open on Friday.

The Spaniard was walking along the fifth fairway of the Kuala Lumpur Country Club when he flicked an insect off his nose; but in doing so he caused many more to swarm around him, stinging his face and head.

“They were three times the size of bees,” Larrazabal said. “They were huge and like 30 or 40 of them started to attack me big time. I didn’t know what to do. My caddie told me to run, so I start running like a crazy guy, but the hornets were still there, so the other players told me to jump in the lake. I ran to the lake, threw my scorecard down, took off some of my clothes and my shoes and jumped into the water. I’ve never been so scared.”

The ordeal was not over as when he attempted to put back on his light-blue polo shirt the hornets returned — and they were just as angry. When a hornet comes under threat it releases an attack pheromone which mobilises the nest to sting in defence. Officials quickly found Larrazabal another shirt and after treatment from the on-site doctor he was able to continue – and remarkably he went on to birdie that par five.

“The referee gave me a couple of injections and the referees told me to relax,” he said. “Without that help, I couldn’t have finished – I was in no state to play.”

Larrazabal’s four-under 68 took him to two-under — 11 shots behind Lee Westwood, who fired a 66 — and into the top 25, but he was not looking forward to the third round. “It will be very, very scary to play that hole,” he said. “I will play it as quickly as I can.”

Westwood is hoping to end a near two-year title drought and was four strokes clear of Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts and Antonio Lascuna of the Philippines at the halfway point.

Precise wedge play put the Briton in position to sink five birdie putts from within four feet on the front nine and he had eight birdies in all.

His lead would be greater if not for a double-bogey on the 11th, where he found the water.

“It was solid stuff. I got a bit unlucky at the 11th,” said Westwood. “The wind just gusted on me and it came up short into the water.”